amygdalin
compound / compound-amygdalin
アミグダリン
Amygdalin is a cyanogenic glycoside diglucoside found in wild almond seeds and apricot kernels. For apricot kernels, the conversion to cyanide after ingestion is documented by EFSA.
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Reading the bitterness
Amygdalin is a cyanogenic glycoside diglucoside accumulated in wild almond seeds, and is recorded in plant science literature as a 「苦い」 (in translation: "bitter") glycoside. This compound is positioned as one of the factors that made wild almond seeds bitter before domestication.
Almond domestication was established through a mutation that eliminated this bitterness. Through map-based cloning of the almond reference genome and an F1 population segregating for flavor, it was shown that the transcription factor bHLH2 controls the transcription of 2 genes involved in amygdalin biosynthesis (PdCYP79D16 and PdCYP71AN24), and a point mutation from leucine to phenylalanine in its dimerization domain is described as stopping transcription and producing the sweet kernel trait (kernels that lost bitterness). This can be read as an example of a single point mutation distinguishing the presence or absence of bitterness and establishing a cultivated plant.
These descriptions treating amygdalin as a bitter substance do not extend beyond standard depictions in plant science literature, rather than psychophysical threshold measurements. Additionally, amygdalin has been confirmed to exist not only in wild almond seeds but also in raw apricot kernels. However, the evidence for apricot kernels only states existence and does not present sensory values for apricot kernel bitterness.
Sources for this overview
Mutation of a bHLH transcription factor allowed almond domestication
Checked for this overview: Confirmed the description of it being a bitter glycoside. / The scope of confirmation regarding the mechanism of the bitterness-loss mutation.
Apricot kernels pose risk of cyanide poisoning
Checked for this overview: The scope of confirmation that it also exists in apricot kernels.
Follow the connections
amygdalin →— sensory attribute→ bitterness →can be measured separately …→ astringency
bitter apricot kernel →contains→ amygdalin
Structured claims — open a section to read each claim's confidence, evidence and limits
Composition and content (2)
Scope: Raw apricot kernels.
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ingredient-bitter-apricot-kernel —contains→ compound-amygdalinScope: Layer: Food. Concentration description in the background explanation of research on ultrasound-assisted debittering of bitter-variety apricot kernels (prior research citation).
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ingredient-bitter-apricot-kernel —contains→ compound-amygdalinSensory (1)
Scope: Wild almond and bitter-kernel lineages.
Note: Not psychophysical bitterness measurements, but standard descriptions in plant science literature.
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compound-amygdalin —has_sensory_attribute→ sensation-bitterMechanism and receptors (1)
Scope: Map-based cloning of the almond reference genome and an F1 population segregating for flavor.
Show data
compound-amygdalin —has_biosynthesis_controlled_by→ "The bHLH2 transcription factor. A point mutation in its dimerization domain (Leu→Phe) stopped transcription of PdCYP79D16 and PdCYP71AN24, producing the sweet kernel (bitterness-loss) trait and enabling almond domestication."